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Friday, February 7, 2014

Tips and Tricks: Glitter Fishing!

We've all done it, and it can be quite frustrating right?
I am here to help! With my list of tips and tricks, you're bound to be successful at glitter fishing!

I've spent a lot of time with glitter toppers this past year and some of them have glitters that are difficult to get out of the bottle and that's when I decided to start taking notes on what worked and what didn't. I asked my facebook friends for their favorite tips and tricks as well!

Some of the methods work better for certain toppers than others, so I compiled a complete list of successful methods to share with you today!

But first a few tips from my friends over at facebook!

Sheila says - The main way I do it is before I use a glitter polish, I do my "toothpick method" - scrape a toothpick quickly down the sides and across the bottom all the way around the bottle - it sort of "floats" the glitters so you can get them on the brush.

Mel says - If i wish i don't pick up a large glitter, it never fails that what i get, so i use reverse psychology.
And there's usually lots of cussing.

Karel says - I turn the bottle upside down for several minutes to a half hour before use to bring the heavier glitters to the top then I swoosh my brush around instead of dipping straight in.

Caterina says - I quickly dive straight in and out fast! To catch big glitters before they have time to swim away!

Brittany says - I turn the bottle upside down for a few min then just keep dipping the brush in the polish til I get what I'm looking for lol

And now for my detailed list!
After reading, feel free to take and share the quick reference guide image located at the bottom of the entry.

Lets get started!

1. Shake and then set the bottle upside down on its cap for about ten minutes before you polish and then do so every few nails. This lets the heavier glitter float to the top of the bottle.

2. Sometimes the glitter gets on the brush but then slides right off before you have a chance. When that happens, watch the inside neck of the bottle and catch the glitters with the brush before they fall back into the polish.

3. Use a dotting tool or toothpick to grab them off the plastic stick part of the polish brush. Sometimes the big glitters are way up near the top after having followed tip #1.

4.I find that the more I use a polish the more those big pieces tend to stick to the brush. So my thought is that the brush gets sticky from being out in the air and causes the glitter to stick to the brush when its dipped. So I either blow on the brush to make it sticky/dry, or when doing the usual two coat mani, instead of capping the bottle after the first layer, keep going and do the second layer. This will sometimes dry the brush enough to make it sticky because its been exposed to the air a while.

5. Decant the polish onto a glass, silicone, metal or other safe for polish surface; one you don't mind being ruined. Sometimes the large pieces will pour out of the bottle and then you can use a sponge, dotting tool or toothpick to put them on the nail. You can also pour into another bottle and watch for the big pieces and catch them with a dotting tool as you pour.

6. Magnets. If the polish has mixing balls in it, find a strong magnet and place it on the outside of the bottle moving it around a little until you hear or see those mixing balls cling to it. With the balls in tow, rub the magnet over the surface of the bottle to loosen the stuck glitter. This doesn't always work but it does most of the time. Just take care not to damage the label, as the black colored magnets sometimes leave smudges behind. For those just pop the polish in a ziploc or other thin plastic before rubbing the magnet over it or stick a piece of clear tape over the magnet's surface.

Below is the quick reference guide that you can pin to pinterest, share on your facebook page, or blog or anywhere else you'd like!

I've used the upside down method myself. I also will take a cuticle stick and swoosh it around the bottle. Just seems like the glitters I want tend to stick better to the wood - probably the dry thing. I'll wipe the stick off between nails. Another trick I've used is to put the polish on a coated paper plate then use a bit of acetone to neutralize the polish part so I can pick up the glitters with a toothpick or dotting tool and place where I want.